Obama administration discussing 'extreme' air quality tactics

Adviser to the Obama administration in the US has revealed that discussions are taking place as to the viability of altering the climate through geo-engineering.

This would include initiatives such as cloud seeding and shooting pollution above the upper stratosphere to defect the rays of the sun, said science adviser John Holdren.

He stated that disasters related to global warming could be on the horizon and that "we don't have the luxury of taking any approach off the table".

Mr Holdren added that these methods have been raised with Obama's aides and that once certain milestones of global warming are reached - such as the loss of Arctic ice - greater catastrophes will become more likely.

According to Time magazine, geo-engineering was long considered the reserve of eccentric scientists, but as global warming has become a more immediate issue in recent years, "it is slowly emerging as an option of last resort".